For the Master Gardeners Association of San Diego County, this year’s upcoming Fall Festival takes on special significance as the group celebrates 40 years of “growing together” with area residents.
The annual event, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 14 at the County Operations Center at 5500 Overland Ave. in Kearny Mesa, will highlight the many ways the association has contributed to the San Diego gardening community.
Activities will include paid classes and hands-on paid workshops. In addition, Master Gardeners will offer free “lightning talks” throughout the day in the courtyard, on varied topics such as native bees, activities for kids in the garden, smart home irrigation controllers, global culinary gardening, and soil particle sizes.
The festival courtyard will be filled with free informational booths and garden-related items for sale, including garden art, succulent arrangements, birdhouses, potted plants and succulent pumpkins. A “green elephant” exchange zone will be available, where someone’s gently used item may become the next person’s treasure.
San Diegans are invited to come spend a day with the Master Gardeners, get gardening questions answered, pick up gifts for themselves or friends, and learn something new. Parking and admission to the Fall Festival courtyard is free; classes and workshops require a fee and registration. Garden items and food will be available for purchase.
Visit mastergardenersd.org and sign up to be notified when registration for this event opens. Space in seminars and workshops is limited. Day-of registration will be limited by space and supplies on hand and is not guaranteed; advance registration is recommended.
Festival classes and workshops
Classes taught by Master Gardeners and affiliates will cover a range of topics, available for a fee. Registration recommended:
- Beginning vegetable gardening
- Houseplant care
- Beneficial bugs
- Food preservation techniques
- Fowls in the garden
- Composting and vermiculture
- Gardening with kids
- Native plants
- Fall rose perk-up
- Beginning beekeeping
- Hand tool care
- Pollinators in the garden
- Tree identification
Master Gardeners will also teach hands-on workshops for the participants — from beginners to seasoned gardening enthusiasts — to create garden-related items:
- Succulent art arrangements
- Mounted staghorn ferns
- Kokedama, a Japanese botanical art form that encloses a plant’s root ball in moss
- Mosaic garden art
- Arreglos de altar de Día de Muertos. La clase se impartirá en español. (Arrangements for a Day of the Dead altar.)
The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County is a nonprofit organization, and 85 percent of all proceeds support educational outreach services, including community, school and demonstration gardens and specific programs to help change the way San Diego gardens. A free gardening hotline staffed by Master Gardeners is available at (858) 822-6910.
The University of California Master Gardener Program extends to the public research-based information about home horticulture and pest management. Master Gardeners are selected and trained by the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) to volunteer in the community, educating home gardeners on tested gardening methods. The UCCE San Diego County Master Gardener Program was formed in 1983 and has over 350 active volunteers who donate thousands of volunteer hours to the community each year.